Commercial Legal Intern
| Posting date: | 16 March 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £14.80 per hour |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 29 March 2026 |
| Location: | London, UK |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 3 days per week |
| Company: | Penguin Books UK |
| Job type: | Temporary |
| Job reference: |
Summary
Commercial Legal Intern
Are you intellectually curious and enjoy finding practical solutions for complex issues? If you’re interested in law, contracts or commercial strategy within publishing, this could be the role for you. No prior legal experience is required — curiosity, attention to detail and a willingness to learn are what matter most.
A bit about the team and projects you'll work on:
They work behind the scenes to support the publishing process, advising across contracts with suppliers, customers and collaborators, ensuring general legal compliance and engaging with emerging legal issues. They support creative ideas with clear, practical legal frameworks.
Over eight weeks, you’ll see the legal and commercial thinking underpinning publishing. You’ll work on structured mini-projects:
reviewing and organising GDPR contracts;
supporting updates to contract templates;
assisting with licensing agreements , including stage and screen adaptations;
researching legal developments related to AI and its impact on the publishing industry;
sitting in on live deal discussions and seeing how legal and commercial discussions inform outcomes; and
contributing to agreements for social impact initiatives such as book donations and reading partnerships.
You’ll attend team meetings, observe problem-solving discussions and build an understanding of how legal strategy supports publishing innovation and risk management.
Knowledge and skills you’ll gain: Contract review; legal research; data protection awareness; licensing insight; analytical thinking; structured problem solving; professional communication; risk awareness.
About our Summer Internship
This role is part of our summer internship programme at Penguin Random House UK. Please note that our summer internship is a positive action training programme, aimed at bringing new voices into the business. As a result, we will only be accepting applications from candidates who identify as coming from a lower socio-economic background. You can find more information about this eligibility criteria on our careers site or in the application form.
You must also be over the age of 18 and have the existing right to work in the UK in order to apply for this internship role. Unfortunately, we are unable to sponsor visas as the summer internship does not meet the minimum requirements for visa sponsorship.
Applications close on Sunday 29th March at 23:59.
Our summer interns are paid the London living wage.
Summer interns will be expected to join us in the business for 8 weeks from Monday 6th July 2026.
Please note that this is a full-time hybrid position. You will be working from 9:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday. You will be expected to be in person in our London office for at least 2 days per week.
Are you intellectually curious and enjoy finding practical solutions for complex issues? If you’re interested in law, contracts or commercial strategy within publishing, this could be the role for you. No prior legal experience is required — curiosity, attention to detail and a willingness to learn are what matter most.
A bit about the team and projects you'll work on:
They work behind the scenes to support the publishing process, advising across contracts with suppliers, customers and collaborators, ensuring general legal compliance and engaging with emerging legal issues. They support creative ideas with clear, practical legal frameworks.
Over eight weeks, you’ll see the legal and commercial thinking underpinning publishing. You’ll work on structured mini-projects:
reviewing and organising GDPR contracts;
supporting updates to contract templates;
assisting with licensing agreements , including stage and screen adaptations;
researching legal developments related to AI and its impact on the publishing industry;
sitting in on live deal discussions and seeing how legal and commercial discussions inform outcomes; and
contributing to agreements for social impact initiatives such as book donations and reading partnerships.
You’ll attend team meetings, observe problem-solving discussions and build an understanding of how legal strategy supports publishing innovation and risk management.
Knowledge and skills you’ll gain: Contract review; legal research; data protection awareness; licensing insight; analytical thinking; structured problem solving; professional communication; risk awareness.
About our Summer Internship
This role is part of our summer internship programme at Penguin Random House UK. Please note that our summer internship is a positive action training programme, aimed at bringing new voices into the business. As a result, we will only be accepting applications from candidates who identify as coming from a lower socio-economic background. You can find more information about this eligibility criteria on our careers site or in the application form.
You must also be over the age of 18 and have the existing right to work in the UK in order to apply for this internship role. Unfortunately, we are unable to sponsor visas as the summer internship does not meet the minimum requirements for visa sponsorship.
Applications close on Sunday 29th March at 23:59.
Our summer interns are paid the London living wage.
Summer interns will be expected to join us in the business for 8 weeks from Monday 6th July 2026.
Please note that this is a full-time hybrid position. You will be working from 9:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday. You will be expected to be in person in our London office for at least 2 days per week.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.